Dear Boban: Napoli aren't getting carried away in celebrations
Dear Zvone, did you hear what they sang? The fans have decided to cover that old Righeira classic L'Estate sta finendo ("Summer's almost gone"), albeit with new lyrics, and it's become Napoli's unofficial anthem.
Listening to Un Giorno all'Improvviso ("One day, all of a sudden") must have sent shivers down your spine, because what we saw last night would excite anyone who thinks that football is a party, celebration.
Dear Zvone, even you must have realized by now that there was nothing wrong in that kind of singing. Yet earlier this month, you said that it seemed like an unnecessary, even dangerous distraction. Of course, your frank, concise style is what made us love and respect Boban the pundit (and the person) in the first place.
But there's something about "All of this is too much, [Napoli] will lose focus of their main objective" that just doesn't feel right.
Dear Boban, what you meant, in essence, was that great teams, truly winning teams don't let certain things get to them. You may not have said it, but I bet that your Milan team of old came to mind. They wouldn't have let themselves get this carried away.
When we heard you utter these words ten days ago, we felt that even someone as shrewd as you had fallen for the trope that Napoli have only won two titles - and not, say, the twenty or so that other cities have - because they celebrate before the game is up. We frankly weren't expecting that from someone who has never been ordinary, never fallen for this kind of sophistry. You're the kind of person who knows our football enough to understand that Naples isn't Milan or Turin, and hasn't been able to build great teams very often. It doesn't just take knowledge, imagination, hard work and connections, but also a lot of money. A rarity in Naples.
Because when the cash flowed in, Napoli won. Some say that they didn't win as many titles as they should, that two weren't enough. But Maradona's team could have also won less! You have to know that the country was chock-a-block with good teams back then, so much so that Juventus didn't win a title in nine years one they lost Michel Platini. Trapattoni's Inter, Sacchi's Milan, Boskov's Samp ruled the roost, in Europe as well as in Italy.
Dear Zvone, you must have realized by now that Napoli won't lose focus, doesn't feel accomplished and won't let go of this until the bitter end. They may or may not win the title, but if they don't it certainly won't be because they had the temerity to jump around for a couple of minutes, or celebrate with their fans.
Admit it: seeing Higuain celebrate with his fans must have brought feelings of regret, regret that you didn't do that more with your own fans at Milan fifteen years ago. You can make up for this, of course. How about going to Naples yourself to watch those fans go crazy? You may end up getting carried away yourself.
All together now...
@steagresti, translated by @edodalmonte
